Titled ‘The Samaritan Temple and the Sons of Joseph’, Prof Williamson's lecture will look at excavations on Mount Gerizim in Shechem (Nablus), inscriptions from the site, and evidence for the so-called Samaritan Temple there. Was it built as early as the Persian period, as some have claimed?

It will also explore the role played by Joseph in Samaritan tradition, mention of the Sons of Joseph in the biblical book of Chronicles, and whether the author of Chronicles was seeking to build bridges with this alternative community — perhaps an unexpectedly early form of ecumenism.